UCSD FORMING NEW FRESHMAN CLASS

Since 2012, UC San Diego has used a “holistic” approach to its undergraduate admission, a process that allows each applicant to be evaluated on a number of factors, including not only test scores and grades but low socioeconomic status, the quality of their high school and whether a student would be the first in their family to attend college.

The goal is to evaluate each applicant as more than just a set of numbers. Supporters say the approach evens the playing field for those who didn’t attend the best high schools or who couldn’t afford SAT tutors or other enrichment programs.

The 14 factors that are considered include the number of Advanced Placement courses taken, outstanding performances in one or more academic subject areas and whether a student has special talents or awards in athletics, performing arts or some other field. They consider whether the student is ranked in the top 9 percent of their high school class and the quality of a student’s senior-year program.

“It is a fairer process,” Rue said. “We are more able to identify students who may thrive here regardless of the fact they may have had an under-resourced high school. It does allow a student’s individual contexts to be more fully understood in the process.”

In the old method, every student was given a single score of up to 11,000 that gave fixed weights to different factors in a candidate’s application. Admissions officials then picked a number and drew a line to determine who got in and who didn’t.

Under the holistic system, students are given an overall score from a high of 1 to a low of 5. Typically, students who receive a score of 1 are admitted as are many who score in the 2s and 3s.

When looking at students who score 3 or higher, admissions officials review such “added values” as socioeconomic factors and whether a student is in the top 9 percent of their graduating class, said Mae Brown, UC San Diego’s assistant vice chancellor of admissions.

Brown said about 5 to 6 percent of those admitted are accepted in this manner to fill out the class.

Although the university has been increasing its diversity, Rue said the goal is to attract and admit the students with the highest overall academic ability.

This year, the average GPA of admitted students was 4.11, up from 4.07 last year and the average SAT reasoning scores were 642 for critical reading, 692 for math and 659 for writing. Compared with last year, UCSD admitted 20.2 percent more students who are the first in their family to attend college and virtually all ethnic groups experienced increases, with the largest among Mexican-Americans (17.5 percent) and African-Americans (12.5 percent).